I feel like taking exams again: Kriti Kharbanda

Excerpts:

How was your experience working with Vikram Bhatt?

With Vikram I think, the kind of efforts that he puts in to make his actor comfortable that's something you know a lot of people don't do. A lot of directors forget but I think he understands the fact that his actors need to feel pampered at all time, they need to feel confident all time because I think the actors are the least confident people. They have to put this very long exterior and be strong all the time but honestly I think they are all very insecure in one way or another. And for people around them it's important to understand that they need to be very comfortable, need to be very secure in what they are doing.

I think that Vikram has mastered the art of taking care of his artist and making them feel Special, Important and Secure. And I think that the confidence that I have today has been instilled by him in more ways than one.

Tell us about your character in "Raaz-Beboot".

I am playing Shiana Banerjee in the movie. She is a next model, a Bengali girl and a newly wed young housewife. Her character basically believes in being strong, believes in working though her relationships irrespective of what may come or how difficult it may be and of course she is very calm, very composed, she is innocent but at the same time she has a lot of maturity, which is the complete opposite of who I am and she doesn't talk much. She is not very expressive through her words but she is very expressive through her eyes. So, I can say that for me it was a very big challenge because the character is not like who I am or what I am. 

Any special effort you took in order to play a Bengali Girl?

Honesltly, I just had a couple of Bengali lines and apart from that we are a Hindi speaking audience and we obviously stuck to that. But I think for me the hard part was not to play a Bengali girl but it was to be physically very strong because in the film I had to do my own stunts.

Some of them involved ropes and harnesses which were extremely painful and in-fact the stunt-master was there like that 'How she gone a do it" and Vikram Sir said that you don't know what kind of energy this girl has; she has a bundle of energy.

The hardest part was being physically strong, especially in a weather like that where the climatic conditions are around -16 degree Celsius. So, I think its more about your mental effort and being strong. It's like telling yourself that it is not cold, you are not tired, your are not hurt and you are not exhausted. It was more of that I have to play myself in order to play the character.  

Do you feel that 'Horror' is one subject that is least covered in B-Town?

It's fortune for me, I feel glad that they haven't covered it so much because then no peg will be left in my film.*laughs*... I am telling you that I had so much fun shooting the film that it never felt like shooting a horror movie. I never thought that I can enjoy shooting a horror film like that. While it is true that Horror remains unexplored as a genre and that is something that benefits us, we are trying to chart some new territory in it with Raazz Reboot.

Since its your B-Town debut, can we call the year 2016 lucky for you?

You can term every year as lucky for me, every year it gets better and better. I am making two debuts this year, the first in Hindi and second in Tamil and I felt like a child all over again, I feel like I am taking exams all over again.

I had got very comfortable in my skin and I was doing pretty well for me down south and suddenly being a student again wasn't the easiest thing to do but it was probably the most fun thing I have done. I feel like this year has brought back my passion towards acting which was eluding me for some time.

How was it working with Emraan and Gaurav?

Emraan and Gaurav are two very different personalities. Emraan is a very quiet guy who minds his own business, knows about his work and no doubt is a fantastic actor which you can't take away from him. He is absolutely sensational, he learn his lines in an excellent way and is very disciplined, which I think is something I do wish to learn from him.

Gaurav on the other hand is so eager to act and is so passionate about his work and craft. He is a method actor and so I think that they both belong to a very different school of acting. And I have managed to learn so much from both of them, not just as an actor but also as a human being.

How do you select a film?

Honestly, I go on with my gut feeling. There have been times when I have liked the script but I have had to say no to it because my guts said that I won't be able to do justice to the character or the character is not for me.

I have rejected many films that have done very well also, so I can't say that I am always 100% right but I always go with my guts and the vibe I am getting. If it's positive I will say yes otherwise, no to it.

Is Kriti a director's actor?

As an actor I feel I am very spontaneous. I don't like preparing for a role until and unless I have been asked to do so because I feel that if I prepare for a character, its not necessary that the director has a similar vision.

I wait for him or her to guide me and I will only give inputs or suggestions only when I am fully comfortable, but at the end of it all the director is the best person to tell how much of a director's actor I am.

Any actress in Bollywood you grew up admiring?

I think I really admire the way Deepika has come up, she has improved and has become a better actress. It's also wonderful the way she has managed to connect with so many people through her acting and I admire her a lot for that. Of course her Bangalore connection is also a reason, which makes me feel very proud.

In short, describe your personality.

I am extremely emotional, very spontaneous, extremely talkative person and I can absolutely chew a person's head off *laughs*... And I love that about myself *laughs*...

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